Oven having an h-shaped rotating door

ABSTRACT

An oven comprising a housing, a cavity, an H-shaped rotating door, a motor and a heat source is disclosed. The cavity, which includes an opening, is located within the housing. The H-shaped rotating door, which can be rotated by the motor, includes a first food loading section and a second food loading section. The H-shaped rotating door also serves as a cover to prevent heat within the cavity from escaping through the opening. The heat source provides heat to the cavity to heat up any food item placed on one of the food loading sections located within the cavity.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/045,257, filed on Oct. 3, 2013, which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. application Ser. No. 13/077,143, filed on Mar. 31, 2011, acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/236,695, filed onSep. 20, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,733,236, and a continuation-in-partof U.S. application Ser. No. 13/774,617, filed on Feb. 22, 2013, nowU.S. Pat. No. 8,746,134, the entire contents of each of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to compact ovens in general, and inparticular to an oven having an H-shaped rotating door, which is capableof providing continuous food cooking while minimizing heat loss.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conveyor oven typically has a first opening through which uncookedfood enters and a second opening at the opposite end of the oven throughwhich cooked food exits. A stainless steel conveyor belt is commonlyused to carry food items from a loading platform through a heated cavitybetween the first and second openings and ultimately onto an unloadingplatform. The conveyor belt extends past both openings sufficiently toallow safe insertion and retrieval of food items from the loading andunloading platforms. This arrangement allows food items to be placed onthe conveyor belt on a continuous basis to achieve sequentialsteady-state cooking. The only limit to how many substantially identicalfood items may be placed in the conveyor oven is the speed of theconveyor belt, which correlates to the residence time inside the heatedcavity for food items to be sufficiently cooked.

When food items offered by a commercial food service operation such as arestaurant are to be cooked at the same temperature for the same amountof time in a relatively large kitchen area, a conveyor oven isparticularly advantageous. The operator need only set the temperature,blower speed and conveyor belt speed as necessary to cook the selectedfoods. Once these three parameters are set, the oven may be operatedcontinuously without any further adjustments. Even a person unskilled inthe art of cooking is able to prepare high-quality cooked food productssimply by placing them on the loading platform of a conveyor oven. Theease of operation and high throughput make conveyor ovens highlydesirable in restaurants and other commercial food service settings thathave sufficient space to accommodate them.

However, conveyor ovens also have their disadvantages. For example, mostcommercial food service operations offer a variety of different fooditems, such as pizza, chicken, vegetables and pie, which require a widerange of cooking times and heat transfer profiles. Even a single foodorder at a restaurant may include a variety of food items, and differentfood items require different cooking times, temperatures and blowerspeeds. Conveyor ovens are very efficient when cooking similar fooditems, but not for cooking a variety of food items that require vastlydifferent cooking times and heat transfer profiles. In addition, the twoopenings contribute to tremendous heat loss during the operation ofconveyor ovens. The lost heat must be replaced in order to maintain cooktemperature, and as a result conveyer ovens are not energy efficient.Furthermore, the space required by the loading and unloading platformsof conveyor ovens limit the application of conveyor ovens to relativelylarge commercial kitchens.

Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a reduced footprint ovenwith the efficiency of conveyor ovens while enabling different cookingtimes and temperatures, and without the large amount of heat lossassociated with conveyor ovens.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, furtherobjects, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference tothe following detailed description of illustrative and exemplaryembodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an oven, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A-2C are top, side and front cross-sectional views of the ovenfrom FIG. 1, respectively, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate a method of cooking when only one of food loadingsections of the oven from FIG. 1 is being used, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate a method of cooking when both food loadingsections of the oven from FIG. 1 are being used, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has now been found that the above and related objects of the presentinvention are obtained in the form of several related aspects, includingan oven having an H-shaped rotating door.

More particularly, the present invention relates to an oven comprising ahousing, a cavity located within the housing, wherein the housingincludes an opening into the cavity, an H-shaped rotating doorcomprising a first food loading section and a second food loadingsection, a motor for rotating the H-shaped rotating door, and a heatsource for providing heat to the cavity to heat up any food item placedon one of the first and second food loading sections located within thecavity. The H-shaped rotating door serves as a cover to prevent heatwithin the cavity from escaping through the opening when one of thefirst and second loading sections is placed within the cavity.

The present invention also relates to an oven comprising a housing, acavity located within the housing, wherein the housing includes anopening into the cavity, a rotating door comprising (1) a first foodloading section, (2) a second food loading section, (3) a first sidepanel adjacent to one side edge of the first and second food loadingsections, (4) a second side panel adjacent to the opposite side edge ofthe first and second food loading sections, and (5) a mid panelconnecting the mid sections of the first and second side panels andserving as a divider between the first and second food loading sections,and a heat source for providing heat to the cavity. When one of thefirst and second food loading sections is located within the cavity, theother one of the first and second food loading sections is locatedoutside of the cavity and a portion of the first side panel, a portionof the second side panel, and the mid panel that are adjacent to the oneof the first and second food loading sections substantially block theopening to prevent the heat within the cavity from escaping through theopening.

The present invention further relates to an oven comprising a housing, acavity located within the housing, wherein the housing includes anopening into the cavity, a heat source for providing heat to the cavity,a rotating door comprising (1) a first food loading section, (2) asecond food loading section, (3) a first side panel adjacent to one sideedge of the first and second food loading sections, (4) a second sidepanel adjacent to the opposite side edge of the first and second foodloading sections, and (5) a mid panel connecting the mid sections of thefirst and second side panels and serving as a divider between the firstand second food loading sections, and a control panel for entering afirst cook setting for a first food item placed on the first foodloading section and a second cook setting for a second food item placedon the second food loading section. When one of the first and secondfood loading sections is located within the cavity, the other one of thefirst and second food loading sections is located outside of the cavityand a portion of the first side panel, a portion of the second sidepanel, and the mid panel that are adjacent to the one of the first andsecond food loading sections substantially block the opening to preventthe heat within the cavity from escaping through the opening. Inaddition, the first and second cook settings are independentlycontrollable by the control panel.

All features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed written description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there isdepicted an isometric view of an oven, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. As shown, an oven 10 includes ahousing 11 having an opening 12, a side access panel 14 and an H-shapedrotating door 20. As the name implies, H-shaped door 20 is a rotatableoven door formed in the shape of a letter “H” or the like. The size anddimension of opening 12 and H-shaped rotating door 20 may be designed toaccommodate the largest food item that can be allowed to be placedwithin the oven 10. Side access panel 14 may be secured to housing 11via latches 18 a and 18 b. Side access panel 14 may serve as a door toaccess the inside of the oven 10 for the purposes of, for example,cleaning, maintenance, and/or repair.

The oven 10 may also include a control panel 15. Control panel 15 may beimplemented with a touchscreen, a keypad, a liquid crystal display(LCD), and/or other means for entering cook settings. In alternativeembodiments, the oven 10 may comprise more than one control panel (e.g.,one control panel for each of first and second food loading sections 21,22 shown in FIG. 2A). Even though FIG. 1 shows control panel 15 locatedon the top front portion of the oven 10, it can also be placed on thebottom front portion, on the side portion, or any other place on theoven which is readily accessible to an operator. Through the controlpanel 15, an operator can enter commands and/or cook setting parameters,such as cooking temperature, cooking time, blower speed, etc., toeffectuate cooking controls on any food items placed within the oven 10.

With reference now to FIGS. 2A-2C, there are respectively depicted atop, side and front cross-sectional views of housing 11, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown, housing11 accommodates a cavity 17 and an H-shaped rotating door 20 thatcomprises or supports a first food loading section 21 and a second foodloading section 22. First and second food loading sections 21, 22 may besubstantially identical to each other. First and second food loadingsections 21, 22 may each comprise substantially planar surfaces. Firstand second food loading sections 21, 22 may be configured to receivecooking plates 27, 28, respectively, or directly receive food items forcooking. Any food item intended to be cooked by the oven 10 may beinitially placed on either one of cooking plates 27, 28, or directly onloading sections 21, 22. Cooking plates 27, 28 can be identical ordifferent from each other, depending on the types of food items to beprepared. Thus, cooking plate 27 may be made of a different materialand/or a different design from cooking plate 28.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,H-shaped rotating door 20 may comprise a side panel 20 a, a side panel20 b, and a mid panel 20 c connecting the side panels 20 a and 20 b. Themid panel 20 c may connect the mid sections of the first and second sidepanels 20 a and 20 b in such a way that these panels 20 a, 20 b, 20 ctogether form the shape of a letter “H” or the like if seen from aboveas shown in FIG. 2A. Mid panel 20 c serves as a divider between firstand second food loading sections 21, 22. As shown in FIG. 2A, side panel20 a is adjacent to one side edge of first food loading section 21 andone side edge of second food loading section 22, and side panel 20 b isadjacent to the opposite side edge of first food loading section 21 andthe opposite side edge of second food loading section 22.

A portion of side panel 20 a, a portion of side panel 20 b, and midpanel 20 c together serve as an oven cover to substantially block theopening 12 and prevent heat within cavity 17 from escaping through theopening 12, depending on the placement of H-shaped rotating door 20 inrelation to the opening 12. During cooking operations (e.g., when one ofthe first and second food loading sections 21, 22 is placedsubstantially within the cavity 17), opening 12 can be substantiallycovered or blocked by portions of H-shaped rotating door 20 (e.g., halfof side panel 20 a, half of side panel 20 b and mid panel 20 c) that areadjacent to the food loading section placed within the cavity 17.

H-shaped rotating door 20 may be designed to rotate around the rotationaxis x located at the center of mid panel 20 c as shown in FIG. 2A.Preferably, H-shaped rotating door 20 is substantially symmetric in 180°rotation around the rotation axis x.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, theinside walls of housing 11 at the opening 12 and the ends of both sidepanels 20 a, 20 b may be slanted at an angle (e.g., 45°) as shown inFIG. 2A, to allow H-shaped rotating door 20 to rotate and tosubstantially block the opening 12 to prevent heat loss from cavity 17.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thecook setting for the oven 10 when the first food loading section 21 islocated within the cavity 17 and the cook setting for the oven 10 whenthe second food loading section 22 is located within the cavity 17 maybe independently controllable (e.g., via control panel 15). In otherwords, the cook setting for cooking a food item placed on the first foodloading section 21 when it is located within the cavity 17 can bedifferent from the cook setting for cooking a food item placed on thesecond food loading section 22 when it is located within the cavity 17.Examples of cook setting parameters include, without limitation, cookingtime, cooking temperature or a pre-set sequence of different cookingtemperatures, blower speed, the type(s) of heating element to be usedduring cooking operation (e.g., pressurized hot air stream, microwaveheating, infrared radiation heating, depending on its availability inthe oven 10), and/or any other cooking condition that can be set orprovided by the oven 10.

In addition, the oven 10 may be pre-programmed with a separate andindependent cook setting before each of the first and second foodloading sections 21, 22 rotates into the cavity for cooking operation.For example, operating parameters for the oven 10 to cook any food itemsplaced on food loading section 21 can be entered at control panel 15(from FIG. 1) before the food loading section 21 is rotated into cavity17 through the opening 12. Similarly, operating parameters for the oven10 to cook any food items placed on food loading section 22 can beentered at control panel 15 (from FIG. 1) before the food loadingsection 22 is rotated into cavity 17 through the opening 12. Inalternative embodiments, the oven 10 may comprise two separate controlpanels, one for the first food loading section 21 and the other for thesecond food loading section 22.

When food loading section 21 is located inside cavity 17 where food isbeing cooked, food loading section 22 is located outside cavity 17 whereit is being cooled by, for example, the ambient air of a kitchen inwhich the oven 10 may reside. Similarly, when food loading section 22 islocated inside cavity 17 where food is being cooked, food loadingsection 21 is located outside cavity 17 where it is being cooled by theambient air of the kitchen. Due to the large temperature differentialbetween the cooled food loading section 21 (or food loading section 22)and heated cavity 17, food loading section 21 (or food loading section22) can be sent into cavity 17 to rapidly bring down the temperature ofcavity 17, when necessary, after food loading section 21 (or foodloading section 22) has been sufficiently cooled down by the ambientair. In essence, the air-cooled food loading section 21 (or food loadingsection 22) may be used to serve as a heat sink for absorbing the heatwithin cavity 17. From a time-saving standpoint, this maneuver isparticularly advantageous in getting the oven 10 ready for cooking afood item that requires a lower cooking temperature than the currenttemperature of cavity 17. This is because it takes less time to raisethe temperature of cavity 17 up to the desired temperature by theheating and airflow system (after cavity 17's current temperature hasbeen lowered by one of food loading sections 21, 22) than to lowercavity 17's current temperature down to the desired temperature byallowing heat to escape from cavity 17.

H-shaped rotating door 20 can be driven to rotate either clockwise orcounter-clockwise by any given angle by a motor 26 (e.g., steppermotor), as shown in FIG. 2B, that provides the rotational movement forH-shaped rotating door 20. Although H-shaped rotating door 20 is shownto be moved by a motor, it is understood by those skilled in the artthat H-shaped rotating door 20 can also be rotated manually or by avariety of other motorized movement designs.

The oven 10 includes a heating and airflow system to supply heat tocavity 17 for heating up any food items that have been carried on one ofthe first and second food loading sections 21, 22 into cavity 17 viaH-shaped rotating door 20. As shown in FIGS. 2B-2C, the heating andairflow system may include one or more of a top air heating element 30,a bottom air heating element 31, a top plenum 35 and a bottom plenum 38.The heating system may also include an infra-red (IR) heating element32. It is understood by those skilled in the art that other heatingmeans, such as microwave, steam or a combination thereof, can be usedinstead of or in addition to air/IR heating elements 30-32.

As shown in FIG. 2C, top plenum 35 may be connected to a top air inletplate 34. Bottom plenum 38 may be connected to a bottom air inlet plate37. Blower 33 moves air into top plenum 35 and/or bottom plenum 38.Heated air in top plenum 35 and bottom plenum 38 are in gaseouscommunication with cavity 17 through top air inlet plate 34 and bottomair inlet plate 37, respectively. Top air inlet plate 34 and bottom airinlet plate 37 may each include multiple rectangular shaped tubes fordirecting hot pressured airstream towards any food items placed on theportion of H-shaped rotating door 20 located within cavity 17. Althoughair passes through top inlet plate 34 and bottom air inlet plate 37 intocavity 17, it is understood by those skilled in the art that top plenum35 or bottom plenum 38 can be in gaseous communication through a varietyof air opening configurations such as conical shaped nozzles and thelike. Moreover, air could enter cavity 17 through only one of top plenum35 and bottom plenum 38.

The diameter of the air inlet tubes on top and bottom air inlet plates34, 37 may range from 0.25″ to 0.75″. Each of the air inlet tubes canprovide a pressurized hot airstream of approximately 1″ to 2″ widthcoverage directed towards any food items placed on the portion ofH-shaped rotating door 20. In various embodiments, depending on theheight of the tallest food that can be allowed to be placed on foodloading sections 21, 22, the top air inlet plate 34 may be placedapproximately 4″ above food loading sections 21, 22. In variousembodiments, the bottom air inlet plate 37 may be placed approximately1″ below food loading sections 21, 22.

After a food item has been placed within cavity 17, H-shaped rotatingdoor 20 can stop moving, and pressurized hot airstream can be directedtowards the food item to begin the cooking process. At this point,H-shaped rotating door 20 may rotate in a slight clockwise andcounter-clockwise fashion within the width of the rotating door (e.g.,within the width of side panels 20 a, 20 b and mid panel 20 c). Forexample, H-shaped rotating door 20 may vacillate between 5° clockwisefrom the stopping point and 5° counter-clockwise from the stopping pointin order to increase the hot airstream coverage on the food item onH-shaped rotating door 20, and to avoid overheating of a food item atany spot located directly underneath and/or above one of the air inlettubes. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theplacement of air inlet tubes in top air inlet plate 34 and also theplacement of air inlet tubes in bottom air inlet plate 37 will beselected such that the slight clockwise and counter-clockwise movementsby rotator 20 will be sufficient to travel the left-to-right distancebetween individual air inlet tubes in top air inlet plate 34 and bottomair inlet plate 37.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thediameters of air inlet tubes may increase along the radius from therotation axis x. Basically, the diameters of the air inlet tubes near xare relatively smaller than the diameters of the air inlet tubes fartherfrom x in order to avoid the food portion located near x beingovercooked.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A-3C, there are illustrated a method of cookingwhen only one of food loading sections 21, 22 is being used, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Anuncooked raw food item (RF) is initially placed on food loading section21 (or 22), as shown in FIG. 3A. An operator then enters an appropriatecook settings for cooking the food item via control panel 15, and foodloading section 21 (or 22) is subsequently rotated and placed withincavity 17, as depicted in FIG. 3B. After a period of time has lapsed andthe cooking operation has been completed, food loading section 21 (or22) is rotated and exits cavity 17, and the fully cooked food item (CF)is ready to be removed from food loading section 21 (or 22) by anoperator, as shown in FIG. 3C.

With reference now to FIGS. 4A-4D, there are illustrated a method ofcooking when both food loading sections 21, 22 are being used, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Afirst uncooked raw food item (RF-1) is initially placed on food loadingsection 21, as shown in FIG. 4A, and an operator enters an appropriatecook settings for cooking the first food item via control panel 15. Foodloading section 21 is subsequently rotated to be placed inside cavity17. While the first food item is being cooked (F-1), a second uncookedraw food item (RF-2) can be placed on food loading section 22, asdepicted in FIG. 4B, and the operator enters an appropriate cooksettings for cooking the second food item via control panel 15. After aperiod of time has lapsed and the cooking operation for the first fooditem has been completed, food loading section 21 on which the first fooditem is fully cooked (CF-1) is rotated and exits cavity 17 while foodloading section 22 is being rotated to be placed inside cavity 17.

While the second food item is being cooked (F-2), the fully cooked firstfood item (CF-1) is ready to be removed from food loading section 21 bythe operator, as shown in FIG. 4C. While the second food item is beingcooked (F-2), a third uncooked raw food item (RF-3) can be placed onfood loading section 21, as depicted in FIG. 4D, and the operator entersan appropriate cook settings for cooking the third food item via controlpanel 15.

The above-mentioned sequence can be performed repeatedly for differentfood items. Since different cook settings (e.g., cooking times) can beentered by an operator (e.g., via control panel 15), any of theabove-mentioned food items can be completely different from each other.

As has been described, the present invention as implemented in variousembodiments can provide an oven having an H-shaped rotating door forcontinuously and efficiently cooking a wide variety of food items whileminimizing heat loss.

While this invention has been described in conjunction with exemplaryembodiments outlined above and illustrated in the drawings, it isevident that many alternatives, modifications and variations in form anddetail will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, theexemplary embodiments of the invention, as set forth above, are intendedto be illustrative, not limiting, and the spirit and scope of thepresent invention is to be construed broadly and limited only by theappended claims, and not by the foregoing specification.

What is claimed is:
 1. An oven comprising: a housing; a cavity locatedwithin the housing, wherein the housing includes an opening into thecavity; an H-shaped rotating door comprising a first food loadingsection and a second food loading section, wherein the H-shaped rotatingdoor serves as a cover to prevent heat within the cavity from escapingthrough the opening when one of the first and second loading sections isplaced within the cavity; a motor for rotating the H-shaped rotatingdoor; and a heat source for providing heat to the cavity to heat up anyfood item placed on one of the first and second food loading sectionslocated within the cavity.
 2. The oven of claim 1, wherein the H-shapedrotating door further comprises a first side panel, a second side panel,and a mid panel connecting the first and second side panels to form ashape of a letter H.
 3. The oven of claim 1, further comprising acontrol panel.
 4. The oven of claim 1, further comprising a first plenumand a first air inlet plate having at least one opening through whichheated air enters the cavity.
 5. The oven of claim 4, further comprisinga second plenum and a second air inlet plate having at least one openingthrough which heated air enters the cavity.
 6. The oven of claim 1,wherein the heat source comprises an infrared radiation heating element.7. The oven of claim 1, wherein the first and second food loadingsections are configured to receive cooking plates.
 8. The oven of claim7, wherein the cooking plates within the first and second food loadingsections are different from each other.
 9. The oven of claim 1, whereinthe motor is a stepper motor.
 10. An oven comprising: a housing; acavity located within the housing, wherein the housing includes anopening into the cavity; a rotating door comprising (1) a first foodloading section, (2) a second food loading section, (3) a first sidepanel adjacent to one side edge of the first and second food loadingsections, (4) a second side panel adjacent to the opposite side edge ofthe first and second food loading sections, and (5) a mid panelconnecting the mid sections of the first and second side panels andserving as a divider between the first and second food loading sections;and a heat source for providing heat to the cavity, wherein when one ofthe first and second food loading sections is located within the cavity,the other one of the first and second food loading sections is locatedoutside of the cavity and a portion of the first side panel, a portionof the second side panel, and the mid panel that are adjacent to the oneof the first and second food loading sections substantially block theopening to prevent the heat within the cavity from escaping through theopening.
 11. The oven of claim 10, further comprising a motor forrotating the rotating door.
 12. The oven of claim 11, wherein the motoris a stepper motor.
 13. The oven of claim 10, further comprising acontrol panel for entering a cook setting for cooking a food item placedon one of the first and second food loading sections.
 14. The oven ofclaim 13, wherein the control panel comprises a touchscreen, a keypad,or a liquid crystal display.
 15. The oven of claim 10, furthercomprising a first plenum and a first air inlet plate having at leastone opening through which heated air enters the cavity.
 16. The oven ofclaim 15, further comprising a second plenum and a second air inletplate having at least one opening through which heated air enters thecavity.
 17. The oven of claim 10, wherein the heat source comprises aninfrared radiation heating element, or a microwave heating element. 18.The oven of claim 10, wherein the first and second food loading sectionsare configured to receive cooking plates.
 19. The oven of claim 10,wherein the rotating door is configured to rotate in a clockwise andcounter-clockwise fashion within the width of the rotating door during acooking cycle.
 20. The oven of claim 19, wherein the rotating door isconfigured to vacillate between 5° clockwise from the stopping point and5° counter-clockwise from the stopping point during the cooking cycle.21. An oven comprising: a housing; a cavity located within the housing,wherein the housing includes an opening into the cavity; a heat sourcefor providing heat to the cavity; a rotating door comprising (1) a firstfood loading section, (2) a second food loading section, (3) a firstside panel adjacent to one side edge of the first and second foodloading sections, (4) a second side panel adjacent to the opposite sideedge of the first and second food loading sections, and (5) a mid panelconnecting the mid sections of the first and second side panels andserving as a divider between the first and second food loading sections;and a control panel for entering a first cook setting for a first fooditem placed on the first food loading section and a second cook settingfor a second food item placed on the second food loading section,wherein when one of the first and second food loading sections islocated within the cavity, the other one of the first and second foodloading sections is located outside of the cavity and a portion of thefirst side panel, a portion of the second side panel, and the mid panelthat are adjacent to the one of the first and second food loadingsections substantially block the opening to prevent the heat within thecavity from escaping through the opening; and wherein the first andsecond cook settings are independently controllable by the controlpanel.
 22. The oven of claim 21, further comprising a motor for rotatingthe rotating door.
 23. The oven of claim 22, wherein the motor is astepper motor.
 24. The oven of claim 21, wherein the control panelcomprises a touchscreen, a keypad, or a liquid crystal display.
 25. Theoven of claim 24, wherein the control panel comprises a first controlpanel for the first food loading section and a second control panel forthe second food loading section.
 26. The oven of claim 21, furthercomprising a first plenum and a first air inlet plate having at leastone opening through which heated air enters the cavity.
 27. The oven ofclaim 26, further comprising a second plenum and a second air inletplate having at least one opening through which heated air enters thecavity.
 28. The oven of claim 21, wherein the heat source comprises aninfrared radiation heating element, or a microwave heating element. 29.The oven of claim 21, wherein the first and second food loading sectionsare configured to receive cooking plates.
 30. The oven of claim 21,wherein the rotating door is configured to rotate in a clockwise andcounter-clockwise fashion within the width of the rotating door during acooking cycle.
 31. The oven of claim 30, wherein the rotating door isconfigured to vacillate between 5° clockwise from the stopping point and5° counter-clockwise from the stopping point during the cooking cycle.